3 Things That Make a Good Axe

Left: CT Boys Axe (my favorite axe)
Right: Fiskars X-15 chopping axe

A good axe is a very important tool in the wilderness and in the modern homestead. An axe can slice, chop, split, carve, scrape, and complete many other tasks in the field that a simple knife would be feeble to.

Here are the 3 things that make a good axe:

The handle is a good place to start. The handle should be made of wood or solid steel. The best kind of handle for any axe, however, should be wooden. Wooden handles are easy to replace, look good, and they are replaceable, which is always a good thing. Hardwood is the best way to go for axe handles and ash is considered the best for curved handles. While ash is considered the best for curved handles, hickory is considered the best for both curved and straight handles. Basically,  a good axe handle should be made of hickory, it should have straight-grain orientation, and it should be fairly dry. It should also be treated with oils and or wax to keep it nice. Not varnish. Varnish is hard on the hands, it will give you blisters, and it suffocates the wood. Plus it will chip out after a couple of years and look bad. Linseed oil is a much better option. That is what makes a good axe handle.

The steel of an axe head should be of high-carbon content so that it can take a good edge and so that the head itself can withstand a beating. The head should also be forged, not cast to help it obtain maximum durability. While reduction ground is better than cast in general, you will want a forged steel head. Good steels for axe heads include 1095, 1060, 1080, and good Swedish and American steels. All of these are good steels.

Edge-geometry should be slim on a good all-purpose outdoor axe. For a good all-purpose axe leaning toward splitting, you'd want the cheeks to be a little bit wider, but not too much because you will want good chopping ability still. Thick-bitted axes can't bite deep into the wood. The best axes have a good combination between chopping and splitting axes like those of the Fiskars chopping line axes. In general, a good axe will have a thin bit.

Two axes with good edge-geometry

Our rooster, McClellan

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Spyderco Tenacious Knife Review

The Spyderco Tenacious folding knife is a knife I've had for a while. It is a good knife and includes great features such as G-10 handle scales, 8CR13MOV stainless steel, deep pocket clip, and a thumb hole. Here's a photo of mine. 

Spyderco Tenacious Knife

Here are the specs:

Cost: about $40 USD
Steel: 8CR13MOV
Blade Length: 3 3/8 inches long
Fixed blade or folding blade: folding blade
Handle material: G-10

Carving
This knife is a good carver. It is not my absolute favorite carver, however. To be time efficient, I would use a Morakniv. 

General Tasks
This is what this knife is meant for: cutting rope, opening cans of food, carving tent stakes, & making tender and preparing fire materials. It can also be used to collect fibers for cord making or butchering game. 

I hope this was helpful! If you have any questions or comments please comment below. As always, thanks for reading!

How to make a Railroad Spike Knife

Making a railroad spike knife is fairly simple. And it allows you to practice several different blacksmithing skills at the same time. So let's get started!

Step 1:
Fire up your forge and start hammering it flat, continually drawing it out and making it knife-blade shape. Take advantage of the tapered end of the spike to forge the blade shape.

Step 2:
After forging the basic blade shape, start forging the bevel of the knife. Let the knife cool.

Step 3:
Take the "knife blank" and grind a rough edge on it. File it to finish the rough edge.

After the rough grinding and filing.

Step 4:
Heat it to yellow hot and quench the blade in oil or water. Let cool.

Step 5:
Use a file, wetstone and a leather strop to finish the knife.

The finished railroad spike knife and wood forge.

Thanks for reading! Please comment below!

New Blacksmithing Mini Series

Hi guys, here's what I've been busy with lately...

...Blacksmithing!

Blacksmithing Part I:

I think it's a good idea to have some knowledge of blacksmithing because self-reliance tools like knives, axes, and saws are made of metal.

First, we're going to talk about some basic supplies that you will need if you want to start blacksmithing.

Supplies you'll need:

• anvil
• hammer
• tongs
• bellows
• gloves (optional)
• eye protection 
• quenching bucket
• sand or borax
• oil or water for quenching
• steel files
• forge and fuel
• grinder or grinding stone

My forge and tools used for blacksmithing.

Here's an overview of each tool:

Anvil

An anvil is a hard, flat steel or iron surface. Anvils should have at least one hardy hole in them for tool attachment points and punching holes in steel. Pritchel holes are not necessary as you can just use the hardy hole for punching holes. (It takes up more surface area than you could be using to pound your metal on.) I also use my hardy hole to stick pieces in when hot and use as it as a way to bend the metal. Anvils should generally be as heavy as practical. Steel anvils also have better rebound than cast-iron. It's common to mount anvils to a stump like mine shown below. 

My 55-pound anvil. I put it on top of a palm tree stump.

Here's a view of the face:

You can also see the hardy hole. 

One last view:

The anvil face is about waist height on me. 

And finally, another project!

Piece of I-beam that I plan making into an anvil.

Hammer

A cross pein hammer and a heavy ball pein hammer are good choices. Also maybe a light ball pein hammer with a smooth face for finishing is helpful. 

Cross pein hammer

Tongs

Blacksmithing tongs should be heavy and durable. 16" long is a good length. I am making my own out of rebar. 

Bellows

Bellows are a tool to use to make your forge hotter. I used a hair dryer at first but now am using a shop vac. The best thing to use if you are off-grid or want to be prepared for power outage is hand fireplace bellows or hand crank bellows. 

Gloves

I use leather gloves for safety. Gloves are, however, not necessary. They will keep your hands from getting too hot. 

Eye Protection 

I consider eye protection a necessity because I don't want to lose my eyesight! And you can't be self-reliant if you can't see!

Quenching Bucket

I use a stainless steel bucket but if you have a #10 can it works too. I keep vegetable oil in the stainless bucket and water in the #10 can. You'll need these for quenching to harden steel. 

Quenching buckets 

Sand or Borax

You will want sand or borax for a flux. Flux is what you use when you are forge welding (which I will explain in another post). You will also want sand or maybe some cool ashes for annealing. 

Steel Files

Steel files are useful for sharpening tool edges and points. Once they get worn out, you can also use them to make new knives. The steel in files is pretty high quality. 

2 mill files I use

Forge

You need a forge to get the metal hot enough to work with a hammer. I built mine with leftover cobblestone bricks had lying around as you can see below. (More info on building a forge to come in another post.)

Wood-fired Blacksmith Forge

Fuel
You'll need plenty of dry wood to get your forge nice and hot!

Cut off lumber ends from the lumber yard for fuel. I got it for free. 

Grinder or Grinding Stone

You'll want an electric or manual grinder. This will be used for cleaning up profiles and rough grinding edges. I am currently using an electric grinder but if I got a traditional manual stone grinder that would be super cool. 

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post! I will have more about blacksmithing soon. Please comment below and watch for more posts! 

Re-hanging and Restoring a Double-bitted Axe

Here is the grain of the new handle. It had the best grain of any handle at the hardware
store. I bought it at Lowes. Next time I will make my own. 

Today I am going to talk about an old double-bitted axe that I have re-hanged and restored. I have removed the rust, sharpened the bits, and bought and modified a new handle for it. Here is how I did it:

I pulled this ugly staple out of the handle. It was stuck in it
when I bought it. 

Step 1- I knocked out the old handle. I did this by sawing off the handle and leaving a couple of inches, and then I knocked out the old handle with a drift. The handle was removed.

The old axe and handle. 

Step 2-Rehanging. First, I inserted the new handle. I had also stripped all of the varnish off of the new handle with my knife (or as much as I could, anyway). After inserting the handle, I kept removing material from the eye area of the handle until the head fit on well.

The handle from the store (and my ugly carpet, haha!) Sorry for
the poor backdrop! It won't happen again! 

Step 3- I took the handle out and coated it with boiled linseed oil (BLO).

Step 4- I re-inserted the handle and pounded in the wooden wedge.

Here is the wooden wedge I used. I did not use
wood glue when I put in the wedge. Just linseed oil.

Step 5-I pounded in the step wedges. (Here's the story of how I got them: I went to the hardware store because I forgot about getting step wedges. I asked a couple of employees at the hardware store and they didn't even know what a step wedge was. Funny, right? I went over to the part of the hardware store where I bought my axe handle and I found wedge kits for re-handling a sledge hammer. The kits were 98 cents each. I bought one after I saw they had 2 step wedges in each kit along with a sledge hammer wedge.)

Here you can see the wooden wedge and the two metal step wedges.
The wedge system pushes the wood towards all the walls in the axe eye
to ensure a tight fit.

Step 6-I lightly sanded the handle and applied a coat of BLO. I made sure to soak the end grains of the handle and the eye area to make the wood swell so that it wouldn't come loose.

Step 7-I worked the face of the axe: I used a file to remove the major nicks in the axe bit. Then I sharpened it really sharp with a ceramic rod. I lightly sanded the face of the axe to remove any rust.

The finished product.

I hope this was helpful and if you liked this post, please follow and/or check back often! Also, please comment below. Thanks!

Protecting axes and other wooden handled tools with boiled linseed oil and wax.

Let's talk about how to protect your hand tools from rust and rot. High carbon steel will rust and wood will rot. You don't want your axe or other tools to do this. Luckily, there are ways of preventing this. I treat all of my wooden handles with boiled linseed oil generously and sometimes a light wax buff. I use paraffin wax on the heads of my tools to keep the steel from rusting.

To apply boiled linseed oil, you can use an old rag or your fingers. To apply the wax, I simply pick up the block and rub it on the steel. Another way would be to partially melt it and then rub it on with an old cloth.

Here are some pics of some of the tools I've treated and the supplies I've used.

My wooden handled axes and tools

A block of paraffin wax

Boiled linseed oil works well for treating wood

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Council Tools Boy's Axe Mods and Sheath Update

Hey guys! I'm back to posting on the Council Tools Boy's Axe. I still haven't had it that long, so I am going to wait until at least June before I post the review. But for now, I want to talk about all the mods I have done on my axe so far.

I have also added an apple cider vinegar patina.

So far I have:

• peeled the stickers
• oiled the handle
• sanded the handle
• sanded the paint off the head
• made a leather sheath or mask
• oiled and waxed the handle and head
• sharpened it (It came quite dull from the factory, but it is now paper-cutting sharp.)

All of these mods are easy and doable with only hand tools, but I used a sander for the head. I didn't use a belt sander, as that could destroy the heat treat. I also could have sanded it by hand, or used paint stripper, but I actually like how the red paint stayed in the cracks. Plus, it could protect it from rust. I oiled it with olive oil and waxed it with paraffin.

Here are a few pictures:

The pole of the axe had to be lightly sanded to remove the light rust from the patina.

As for axes, this is great and probably one of the best boy's axes you can buy. And the price tag is great. (You can see my previous post on the Council Tools Boy's Axe for more info.)

Here's a side view of my CT Boy's Axe

Thanks for reading and check in often if you enjoyed this post! Please tell your friends and family about my blog. You can also comment below. Thank you fellow woodcrafters!

Sharpening Edge Tools With Natural Stones

Today I'd like to talk about sharpening your axes and knives with rocks and stones you can find in nature. It has been an interesting subject to me because in a long-term stay in the wilderness your minimal list of tools might not include sharpening tools. Your tools would still get dull though.

Here's how to sharpen your edged tools with stones.

Stone selection:
Stones found in river or creek beds are usually good choices. They should either be mostly flat, or kind of puck shaped. Usually they will have medium to heavy grit. I personally like mine medium grit for ax and knife sharpening. After selecting your stone, clean off any mud or debris. Then get it wet with water or oil. Now you can use it to sharpen your tool.

How to use:
Use a circular motion when using the puck on your axe and sweep the blade of your knife across the flat stone to sharpen your knife.

Here are some explanatory pictures.

The tools that I sharpened with my stones were an
Old Hickory deboning knife and my Fiskars Hatchet
along with my CT Boys Axe.
Notice how the stones are dry. 

Here's the dry puck shaped sharpening stone I used.

And the dry flat stone I used.

Here it is wet with water. 

And the puck is wet with water. 

The tools I sharpened. Notice the stones are wet.

Thank you for reading Arctic Fox Bushcraft! Come back soon for more posts about knives, axes, and bushcraft.

Fiskars X7 Hatchet Bushcraft Review

The Fiskars X7 Hatchet has been a tool that I have had for almost a year now. I have used it for numerous fire preparations and carving projects. It has even helped me build 3 semi-permanent shelters and has held up well! It is very comfortable to use for long amounts of time. It also comes very sharp with it's own sheath, which is definitely great. Here are the specs:

Fiskars X7 Hatchet next to Morakniv Companion

Length: about 14 inches
Handle material: fiberglass
Handle grain: none
Cost: $25 USD
Overall rating: Gransfors-Bruks Predator (in other words 5 out of 5 stars)
Steel: medium to high carbon steel
Steel hardness: medium, not super hard. But not as soft as some people say.

The Handle

The handle is a special type of super strong, light-weight fiberglass that is also very comfortable to hold, unlike most fiberglass handles. Fiskars also has a lifetime warranty just in case the nearly unbreakable handle breaks. And Fiskars show amazing chopping and splitting performance for the price. Overall I am very pleased.

The Fiskars X7 comes with a practical hard plastic sheath with an orange toggle.

Chopping Performance

I don't use this to chop big stuff. On soft wood species, it chops quite well. It can chop pretty good up to about 5 to 6 inches in diameter logs.  I usually only use it for 2-3 inch though. I usually use it to chop boughs of trees to help with shelter building and for bough beds. I also use it to limb trees that I cut down to build shelters or firewood. You can also use it to split kindling for your fire.

A few chops into a seasoned pine log

Carving
This is my favorite carving hatchet. I have used it to carve rough spoons/ladles. It also carves points on to the ends of poles for shelters and shelter stakes really well. It's almost like it has a Scandinavian grind. It debarks wood very well.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please comment below and watch for more posts. Also please share with family and friends. Thank you!

Uberleben Zunden Swedish Fire Steel Review

This is a great traditional-looking fire steel. It has a wooden handle and it's overall length is about 3 inches. It also comes with it's own striker tied on by 550 paracord.

My Uberleben Swedish Fire Steel

Specs
Cost: $16 USD
Rod length: about 3 inches

Cord: 550, 7-strand paracord

Making Sparks

This with throw large amounts of sparks if used correctly. You can use the back of your knife but the striker supplied will usually work better. The best tender for this would be dryer lint, cotton balls, cotton balls smeared in petroleum jelly, bird and mouse nest fluff, dry shredded grass, and charcloth.  The dryer lint is my personal favorite. You can also use wild weeds or plants that grow fluffy cotton-like ball, cattail fluff, birch bark plain, or birch bark covered in highly flammable birch oil.

The Striker

I like how the striker has a few useful utilities. It included a can opener, a wrench, and a measuring stick. It is made of high carbon steel so in a desperate emergency it could be fashioned into a small blade, or you could take a piece of chert, flint, or quartz and make a spark by striking the two together. I usually use chert or quartz to make sparks as they are the easiest to find.

In conclusion, this is a great fire steel that I will be taking on many trips to come. Thank you for reading the Arctic Fox Bushcraft blog and please comment below!

Cold Steel Trail Hawk

Cold Steel Trail Hawk Review

This shows the branch handle I made for the tomahawk.

The Cold Steel Trail Hawk has been a tool that I've wanted to review for a while now. I will admit, I think it is a good tool. I definitely wouldn't use it over a hatchet or an axe in a true survival situation, but it is a good compliment to my council tool's boy's axe when I am out in the field. I haven't used it much, but I plan on taking it on more trips. Even if it isn't as practical as a hatchet or an axe, it is a ton of fun to throw and it will easily take down small greenwood saplings for shelter or other purposes. It will also process firewood for a small cooking fire.

Cold Steel Trail Tomahawk with sheath. (modified)

Specs:

steel: 1055 high carbon steel
length: 22 inches
handle material: grade A Tennessee hickory
overall rating: 5 stars
price: $20                                                                                                            

Features:

Chopping: This is a decent chopping tool. It is not an axe or hatchet but it will work for a day trip. It holds its edge well too.

Throwing: This can throw pretty well. It's probably one of the best cheap tomahawks you can buy. I throw mine into a palm round, but you can throw it into a tree on a camp out. Throwing it can dull it, but I've not gotten any nicks in the edge of the blade yet. Throwing it will eventually break the handle. I've already gone through two handles. It is nice, though, because the handles can be replaced easily out a branch, for example.

Carving: To be honest, it doesn't carve all that well. If you re-profiled it, it might do okay but I haven't tried this and the steel seems too soft for it. However, the steel being soft helps with throwing and chopping because it is less likely to get chipped on the edges. But the steel being soft for carving makes it so that you can't get it as sharp as you would like. It can carve a tent stake or a shelter stake though.

Sparking a ferro rod: Being high carbon steel, it will throw pretty good sparks off a ferro rod.

Thank you for reading and please comment below.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Council tool boys axe sheath.

Council Tool boys axe sheath

       Today I made a sheath for my council tool boy's axe. Here is what it looks like on the axe.

The custom leather sheath I made for the axe.
You can also see the stamped "USA" on the head.

It is very simple, but I do not know how long it will hold. The three components of it are the leather, heavy thread, and paracord. To make it, I took a square of leather and folded it over and stitched it up on the non-folded sides except for the part where the axe bit rests. It is kind of like a mask sheath. Then I took the paracord and tied it into holes cut on both sides and looped it around under the shoulder of the axe. To make the holes, I high-quality sewing scissors.

Here's the full view of the axe and the top view below. 

The handle grain runs tight and straight, just as I had hoped. it would..

Hope enjoyed this post! Thanks for reading. Check back for the full review of the Council Tool Boys Axe coming soon!